Oh, to be King!

I don't know which he likes better, the new dump truck, or all the attention from his big sisters!

Elk Steak

I have been trying to be a little better about following the word of wisdom....not the drinking part, but the meat part. To only eat sparingly and in times of famine and winter. So I've been trying not to base my meals around the meat. I'm not very good at it, and sometimes I wonder what The Babe thinks about my plan, because he is a meat eater. But I think we can be a lot healthier if we do it.
Anyway, for the past several weeks, my arms have been aching really bad. Some days I can barely lift them from my sides without a great aching pain. At first I attributed the pain to Zumba. I just figured I was getting a really good arm workout. But after a weekend of no Zumba I figured it couldn't be that because they had plenty of time to heal. So my next theory was I was going to have a heart attack and this was just the beginning. But, with weeks passing and nothing more than aching arms and shoulders, I decided it wasn't a heart attack....it had to be bone cancer! (Thank you Anita Stansfield!) Well, a few days ago a friend of The Babe's gave us half of an elk. So The Babe cut it all up and was so proud because he cut just the way I like it...really thin. He was trying to convince me that it was really good and that I would really like it. It had been in a cooler for 2 weeks and apparently that really makes it tender and less gamey. Elk can be really iffy you know. I have had a few very good elk and I have had a lot of really nasty elk so I was a little hesitant. Finally he convinced me to try it. Why not, if I didn't like the first bite, surely he would be happy and eat it all, Right! Well, I'm afraid he was disappointed because I actually really liked it! In fact I ate most of it, he only got 2 pieces so he cooked up another package. When he only got 2 or 3 pieces of that package, he cooked up another! That's right I ate the majority of THREE packages of elk steaks! The Babe just sat there and stared at me with his mouth hanging open. He said that is the first time in his life I have ever eaten more meat than him! It was seriously crazy, but it seriously tasted so good! And guess what? My arms don't ache at all anymore. I think I was just severely lacking protein in my diet! Crazy huh! Good thing it's winter so I can justify it! (wink wink)

My Crazy Life in a Nut Shell...

Where to start...
Well, About 2 months ago, I'm not really sure if it was 2 months, but it feels like it, my dryer quit working. So my gracious neighbor has been allowing me to haul my wet laundry over to her house and dry my laundry there. It has been a pain in the neck, and probably more so for her. But she never complains, Thanks Shawna. Well, I have been nagging The Babe to get it taken care of for weeks. I think its a simple fix, but I'm trying to be a complete hag and nag him to death. I keep hoping he will just realize that it's making my life really crazy and get the job done. (May take more nagging, I'm not sure that will ever happen, unless he reads my blog!) Anyway. On with the story. About three weeks ago, again, it could be longer, I'm just not sure. I got home from Zumba, and I had a very sweaty article of clothing that I just decided to toss in the sink and get it washed so it would be dry for morning. So I did just that, then scrambled to get dressed. I couldn't find any shirts and I knew there would be one in the laundry room so I went to get it. When I got in the laundry room I realized that I had a load of clothes in the washer, so I pulled them out and hung them up to dry (because my dryer doesn't work!) Then I went and finished the dishes and started the dish washer. My kids got out of bed so I put them all back in bed and sang them a song. Then I sat down to talk to The Babe....when I suddenly realized I left the water running in the bathroom sink!!! I ran in there, but I was exceedingly too late! Water was pouring over the sink and the countertop. The floor had at least 2 inches covering the entire floor. I pulled open the cabinet drawers, yep, 3-4 inches of water in each one except the bottom one! Under the sink was completely drenched as well. I had to throw away 1/2 of my femine things and they are NOT CHEAP! That really made me mad. It took forever to clean up and I had to use all the towels I just got folded and put away to soak up all the water. So of course I put all the towels back in the washer to get them washed. But then I went to bed. I didn't care if I had to run them again in the morning because I was extremely tired! So the next morning I went in and started the washer again, just so they wouldn't be sour. I went back in a while later and guess what, my washer was leaking water all over the floor! Yep, more water! So fun! I called my mom in tears. It's been pretty stressful. And that was my last straw. It's Christmas, how am I ever going to come up with a washer and a dryer? Anyway, things have been ok for a couple weeks. Shawna, Marie, and Mom have been so kind and gracious to help me out with my laundry! My dear Daddy-0 found me a washer from my awesome cousin Jake who is a hero to give it up, but it won't stop raining and who wants to travel with a washer in this kind of weather? Oh well. Some day it has to stop! Well, yesterday I got dressed and walked into my living room and it smelled like gas so bad. I was trying to get everyone ready for church because The Babe had to go to meet someone to pick up half of an elk. I turned off our heater and called him. He called our neighbor and he came over to check it out. The kitchen and living room smelled so bad I opened up the doors while I was trying to get everyone dressed. We decided it was best to leave so we packed up what we needed for church and headed to the neighbors to fininsh getting ready. I really wanted to go the Christmas program so we finished getting ready and I called Dad to come and take us over. I was so sure that my house was going to explode and I would have nothing to come home to, but I just kept a prayer in my heart that my house would still be standing when I got home. It turns out there was a gas can in the garage that got turned over and leaked gas all over the floor. Luckily it wasn't any worse than that! I've been truely blessed. It has been one of my craziest, most stressful Holiday Seasons Ever. But I have seen the Hand of the Lord in my life. I know He is blessing me and my family. I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful this time of year to celebrate His birth and His life! I hope we all remember HE is the REASON for the Season!
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Addie's Christmas Program

Yesterday was Addie Mae's Kindergarten Christmas Program. She has been looking forward to it all week. She practiced her songs and poems and she was ready! I must admit there is a great sense of pride when you get to watch your kids perform! Of course she was the cutest one there! Porter was excited to see his Aee up on stage. He loves her so much. Whenever he gets in trouble he runs to Aee to get a hug and feel better.
I recorded her performance, but I missed one or two songs because my card ran out of memory space. I was confused about the reason because I have a pretty big card and should be able to take a lot of pictures. But when I got home and downloaded my card, I found the reason. Leighna loves to "borrow" my camera and take pictures around the house. She has taken pictures of every single Christmas decoration in our house. All the Nativity sets....individual pieces, the snowflakes, the snowmen, the tin cans, everything! There is a picture of every single one! And, a picture of each of her ponies...AGAIN! It's pretty funny. No wonder why I ran out of memory space!
Anyway, Addie did a great job in her program. I wish I could get it to download so I can post it. It seems to work for everyone else, but I can't figure it out. So if anyone has any tips, don't be afraid to share! :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS
(just in case I don't make it back to blogging before then. I plan too, but you know how it goes. I'm trying to be better though!)